Konrad Laimer could be next: The fraction of players and coaches with an RB past is growing at Bayern Munich. We show how much RB is in Bayern.
When he switched from RB Leipzig to FC Bayern Munich in 2021, Julian Nagelsmann joked: “I’m not going to rent a T6 to go to Munich and have one or the other good player from Leipzig with me in tow.”
In fact, he and his coaching team would not have needed a VW bus to get from Leipzig to Munich. But if you look at all the players and coaches who also spent time in the RB empire in Leipzig or Salzburg before moving to FCB, then a minivan is not enough. And in Konrad Laimer, the next player with an RB background has been on the move to Bayern for some time. SPOX shows how much RB is in FCB.
Konrad Laimer
From 2007 to 2017 at Red Bull Salzburg
With RB Leipzig since 2017
The native of Salzburg switched from his youth club USC Abersee to Red Bull Salzburg at the age of ten. There the midfielder went through all youth teams. In 2014 Laimer gained his first experience in Salzburg’s farm team FC Liefering in the second Austrian league.
Laimer made his first division debut shortly thereafter at the age of 17 under the later Frankfurt coach Adi Hütter. In 2017, Laimer moved from Salzburg to Leipzig within RB for an official fee of seven million euros. Nagelsmann, who had Laimer on his team at Leipzig from 2019 to 2021, is considered a big fan of the “pressing machine”.
FCB already courted the services of the 24-time Austrian national player last summer. But Leipzig put a stop to a transfer. In the summer, Laimer can change free of charge due to his expiring contract. the sports picture recently reported that FCB sports director Hasan Salihamidzic resumed talks with Laimer’s consulting agency Roof in January. The change should therefore be finalized as soon as possible.
Dayot Upamecano
From 2015 to 2017 at Red Bull Salzburg
From 2017 to 2021 at RB Leipzig
The central defender, together with Nagelsmann, made the journey from Leipzig to Munich in the summer of 2021 – but almost ended up at Bayern in 2015. Because at the U17 European Championship, Upamecano played himself into the focus of some scouts from top European clubs, including FCB.
But Ralf Rangnick, then sporting director at Red Bull, was able to persuade Upamecano to switch from his then club FC Valenciennes to Salzburg. Incidentally, the ex-Bayern professional Jean-Pierre Papin also comes from the offspring of the northern French.
After two years at Salzburg, Upamecano moved on to Leipzig, where he developed into a permanent fixture in defence. Bayern got him in 2021 for 42.5 million euros as the successor to defender David Alaba, who had moved to Real Madrid. He wasn’t quite able to fill in the big footsteps in his debut season, but the twelve-time France international has made a clear step forward and stabilized his performances this season.
Marcel Sabitzer
From 2014 to 2021 at RB Leipzig
Loaned to Red Bull Salzburg in the 2014/15 season
Sabitzer’s entry into the RB empire caused quite a stir in Austria. In 2014, the midfielder was under contract with Rapid Vienna for two more years. However, his working paper contained an exit clause of two million euros, which, however, only applied to moves abroad.
RB Leipzig, then still in the 2nd Bundesliga, made use of the clause, but immediately loaned Sabitzer back to Austria to sister club Red Bull Salzburg. Sabitzer matured there, returned to Leipzig as the Austrian champion and celebrated promotion to the Bundesliga with the Saxons, where he was also a top performer.
In 2021, Bayern put 15 million euros on the table for the midfield all-rounder. He then went from Leipzig to Munich with Nagelsmann and Upamecano. There, Sabitzer, who was temporarily used as a last resort in the defensive back four, was only rarely able to meet the demands. Even in his second season, he does not get beyond the role of the supplementary player.
Sadio Mane
From 2012 to 2014 at Red Bull Salzburg
Mané landed at Bayern last summer – more than eight years late, so to speak. As early as January 2014, the offensive player shot himself into Bayern’s field of vision. In a friendly during the winter break, Red Bull Salzburg defeated Bayern 3-0 under Pep Guardiola.
The man of the match: the then 21-year-old Sadio Mané. He scored the opening goal himself, got the penalty to make it 2-0 and prepared the goal for the final score. “My advisor Björn Bezemer later informed me that there was contact with Bayern after this game,” Mané reported in the sports picture.
But Mané’s path did not lead to Munich the following summer, but to England. Southampton FC struck for a transfer fee of 23 million euros. “Paying a fee of over 20 million euros for a certainly highly talented player who should have placed himself behind two seeded players in his position was not an issue,” said Bayern’s technical director at the time, Michael Reschke, in an interview with SPOX and GOALS. At Bayern, the wings were firmly in the hands of Arjen Robben and Franck Ribéry.
In England, Mané developed into a world-class player, winning the Champions League and the English championship with Liverpool. Last summer, Bayern took Mané for 32 million euros, also to compensate for the departure of Robert Lewandowski. Mané’s first half was mixed. Although the Senegalese has scored eleven times in 23 games and set up four more goals, he has now been sidelined for weeks due to an injury to his fibula just before the World Cup.
Joshua Kimmich
At RB Leipzig from 2013 to 2015
Kimmich was trained in the youth of VfB Stuttgart, but left the Swabian U19s in the summer of 2013 to join upstart RB Leipzig, who had just been promoted to the 3rd division.
In his debut season, Kimmich was a regular in defensive midfield at Leipzig, who made it through to the 2nd Bundesliga. After that, Bayern secured the services of the up-and-coming talent. Seven million of the total transfer fee of 8.5 million euros flowed to VfB Stuttgart due to an option negotiated when Kimmich moved to Leipzig.
Kimmich continued his rapid development at Bayern. Initially in his usual position in midfield, he followed in Philipp Lahm’s footsteps as a right-back from 2017. But he subsequently became more valuable in central midfield, where he is also a leader in the national team.
Julian Nagelsman
From 2019 to 2021 at RB Leipzig
Nagelsmann had to end his active career early on due to injury, which he began in the youth team at FC Augsburg and continued with Bayern’s city rivals 1860 Munich. His coaching career was much more successful.
At TSG Hoffenheim, Nagelsmann became the second youngest coach in Bundesliga history at the age of 28. From 2019, Leipzig led Nagelsmann twice to the Champions League and once to the cup final.
In 2021, Bayern brought him in as the successor to Hansi Flick – and digged deep into their pockets for it. As the sports picture recently reported, 15 million euros of the maximum transfer fee of 25 million euros were transferred directly to Leipzig. Another five million will come from two friendlies. The remaining five million are success-based bonuses.
Dino Toppmöller
At RB Leipzig from 2020 to 2021
The son of Klaus Toppmöller, who also used to work in the Bundesliga, joined Nagelsmann’s coaching staff at RB Leipzig in 2020. Previously, Toppmöller led, among other things, the Luxembourg outsider F91 Dudelingen as head coach in the group phase of the Europa League. In 2021 Nagelsmann took his assistant from Leipzig to Bayern.
Xaver Zembrod
At RB Leipzig from 2020 to 2021
Nagelsmann also took him from Leipzig to Bayern. Both know each other from their times together at TSG Hoffenheim. Nagelsmann was there in the U17 assistant coach under Zembrod. From 2020, both worked together again at RB Leipzig, now in reversed roles. Zembrod also has the DFB and SC Freiburg, where he worked as head of the football school from 2012 to 2014, in his vita.
“He speaks like Rod Stewart and looks like Bryan Adams,” Nagelsmann said of his assistant when he was absent from a game in early 2022 due to illness.
Benjamin luck
From 2019 to 2021 at RB Leipzig
The game analysis expert already worked with Nagelsmann at TSG Hoffenheim and also accompanied the coach to Leipzig in 2019. In 2021 he then made his way to Munich together with Nagelsmann.
John Sauer
From 2012 to 2017 at Red Bull Salzburg
Sauer joined the Salzburg company as managing director in 2012. At the end of 2017, the native of Reutlingen announced his retirement. “In the last few weeks I’ve got the feeling that my story in Salzburg has come to an end after almost five years,” said Sauer.
Six months later, Bayern made him head of their youth department, where he is responsible for developing talent.
